Better reporting is better science: Community-defined minimal reporting requirements for light microscopy

The Journal of Cell Biology 2026 Open access

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Authors: Paula Montero Llopis, Chloë van Oostende-Triplet, Nathalie Gaudreault, Caterina Strambio De Castillia, Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez, Gabriel G. Martins, Alison J. North, Luis Acevedo, Sergiy Avilov, Cristina Bertocchi, Ulrike Boehm, Lisa Cameron
+35 more Michael Cammer, Aurélie Cleret‐Buhot, Steffen Dietzel, Orestis Faklaris, David C. A. Gaboriau, Thomas Guilbert, David Grunwald, Tingting Gu, Nadia Halidi, Mathias Hammer, Hella Hartmann, Janosch Heller, Helena Jambor, Ayse Aslihan Koksoy, Judith Lacoste, DeLaine D. Larsen, Sylvia Emmanuelle Le Dévédec, Penghuan Liu, Josh Moore, G. Nelson, Michael S. Nelson, Nils Norlin, Adam Parslow, Alexander L. Payne-Dwyer, John W. Peterson, Santosh Podder, Andrea Ravasio, Eduardo Rosa‐Molinar, Britta Schroth‐Diez, Olaf Selchow, Sathya Srinivasan, Douglas J. Taatjes, Kirstin Vonderstein, Christa G Walther, Roland Nitschke
DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202601032
Cited by: 2
References: 21

Abstract

Incomplete reporting of microscopy methods undermines transparency, reproducibility, and data reuse. Despite recent initiatives, comprehensive, broadly endorsed, and accessible reporting guidelines are still lacking. Here, we present a bare minimal microscopy reporting requirements checklist that integrates human- and machine-readable input to provide clear, actionable guidance for researchers, reviewers, and publishers and to advance community standards in microscopy.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Cell Image Analysis Techniques Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques Animal testing and alternatives

Publication details

Journal / source
The Journal of Cell Biology
Publisher
Rockefeller University Press
Volume
225
Issue
3
Publication date
21 January 2026
Language
EN